[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 138 (Monday, September 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11955-S11956]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  AMERICA'S FUTURE BIRTHDAY: 50 YEARS OF REMARKABLE SERVICE BY GREAT 
                                PATRIOTS

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, speaking of remarkable, I have been in 
correspondence with a great lady who fits that description perfectly. 
Phyllis Schlafly long ago became a legend in her own time, a fact that 
once more came to mind a few weeks back when she and I discussed the 
then-upcoming 50th anniversary of America' Future, Inc.
  America's Future was founded by great Americans dedicated to the 
preservation--and the restoration--of the principles outlined by the 
Founders of this Republic. Dr. Robert Morris, who, by the way, 
celebrates his 81st birthday today, is chairman and president, and a 
trustee of America's Future, along with the following who also serve as 
trustees: D. Clifford Allison, attorney of Wichita; Dr. Anthony T. 
Bouscaren of Fayetteville, NY; Philip C. Clark of Greensboro, NC; 
William J. Gill of Washington; Wesley H. Hillendahl of Santa Rosa, CA; 
Dr. Anthony Kubek of Clearwater Beach, FL; John J. Metzler of New York 
City; Mrs. Herbert Philbrick of Rye Beach, NH; Elizabeth E. Racer of 
Winchester, VA; Brig. Gen. Robert C. Richardson III (retired) of 
Washington; Henry Salvatori of Los Angeles; Phyllis Schlafly of Alton, 
IL; Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub (retired), Arlington, VA; Retired 
Ambassador Raymond L. Telles of El Paso; James L. Tyson of Darien, CT; 
W. Raymond Wannall, retired Assistant FBI Director, Silver Spring, MD, 
and John C. Wetzel, Milford, PA. Gen. Dan Graham was a trustee prior to 
his death sometime back. I have been a trustee for several years.
  Mr. President, when America's Future was founded, 50 years ago, the 
Second World War had just ended and the United Nations had just been 
launched. The cold war had not yet begun, and neither had the 
conservative movement. Fifty years ago, the number of conservative, 
constitutionalist, free-market-oriented organizations and

[[Page S11956]]

publications could be counted on one hand. But the number of Communist-
front organizations, to say nothing of liberal and left groups, 
numbered more than 1,000.
  Our Nation was in transition, and our enemies moved quickly to make 
the most of it. There was an obvious need for organizations and 
individuals willing to defend the American way. And so, on April 24, 
1946, America's Future, Inc., a nonprofit, tax-exempt educational 
organization, was founded in New York City by a group of businessmen 
dedicated to the preservation of two great fundamental principles: The 
competitive, private enterprise system that has made our country strong 
and prosperous, and the constitutional form of government that has kept 
us free from the tyranny of individuals or factions.
  America's Future had among its founding members such distinguished 
Americans as Frank E. Gannett, Mrs. Amos Pinchot, and Gen. Robert E. 
Wood of Sears, Roebuck & Co. The many prominent Americans who served as 
trustees include National Association of Manufacturers past president, 
Robert L. Lund, Henning W. Prentis, Jr., of Armstrong Cork Co., former 
New Jersey Governor Charles Edison, George W. Strake of Houston, and 
Charles Hook of Armco Steel.
  Mr. President, between 1946 and 1948, America's Future sponsored and 
produced over the ABC Radio Network a Sunday afternoon commentary 
featuring Samuel B. Pettengill, former Member of Congress and 
nationally known constitutional authority. America's Future also began 
the publication and distribution of books, pamphlets, and reprints now 
numbering in the millions.
  In the 1950's, noted journalist and staunch patriot John T. Flynn 
joined forces with America's Future. He went behind the headlines to 
explain the real significance of events and personalities. His 
commentary for America's Future, aptly named ``Behind The Headlines,'' 
was carried on more than 300 radio stations of the Mutual Broadcasting 
System. Commentaries by Flynn were also distributed to hundreds of 
newspapers.
  America's Future launched its Textbook Evaluation Project in 1958, to 
give due recognition to textbooks that accurately portray our history, 
our government, and our economic system--and to alert the unsuspecting 
public to those who distort the fact or justify the expansion of big 
government. The first issue of the America's Future newsletter appeared 
the following year, in 1959.
  R.K. Scott devoted 31 years of his life to America's Future, 
succeeding the late Robert Lund as president in 1958, and becoming the 
full-time moderator of ``Behind the Headlines'' in 1961. John Wetzel, 
who had served America's Future as treasurer since 1958, succeeded as 
president in 1989. Philip Clarke, a veteran journalist who has reported 
for the Associated Press, Newsweek magazine, and the Mutual 
Broadcasting System, became the voice of the syndicated radio 
commentary, ``Behind the Headlines.''
  Robert Morris, the renowned geopolitical strategist and one of 
America's foremost authorities on intelligence and national security, 
became chairman of the board of America's Future in 1989 and president 
in 1995. He served as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer during World War 
II and was chief counsel to the U.S. Senate Internal Security 
Subcommittee from 1951 to 1953. A former judge, the former president of 
two Texas universities, the author of numerous books and a syndicated 
newspaper column, Morris is currently the chairman of the National 
Committee to Restore Internal Security.
  Mr. President, America's Future continues to provide its ``Behind The 
Headlines'' commentaries free of charge to any radio station or 
newspaper that requests them. ``Behind the Headlines'' is currently 
broadcast by more than 120 radio stations across America, and published 
by more than 300 newspapers. The commentaries are summarized for 
thousands of subscribers nationwide in the bimonthly America's Future 
newsletter, which is available free of charge to college and high 
school libraries, ``Behind The Headlines'' can also be found on the 
America's Future worldwide website--http://www.accessus.net/
eamiller/af.
  Methods of communications may change, but the principles America's 
Future espouses will remain timeless. Whether it's on the radio, in 
newspapers and pamphlets and newsletters, on the Internet, or though 
some medium not yet imagined, America's Future will keep reminding our 
countrymen that the best way to protect the freedoms Americans enjoy is 
by preserving our constitutional form of government and our private 
enterprise system.
  As it stands poised on the threshold of a new century, America's 
Future can by justly proud of its success in combating the 
philosophical errors of our era. Big government is not dead yet, but it 
is discredited. We have every reason to hope, therefore, that tomorrow 
will bring a rebirth of freedom in our country. There truly is a lot to 
look forward to in America's future, and we congratulate America's 
Future, Inc., on the occasion of its golden anniversary.

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